Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has urged the Senate to reject President Bola Tinubu’s request for approval to secure a fresh $7.7 billion external facility—amounting to approximately N10.79 trillion—to partly finance the 2026 budget deficit.
Reacting on Wednesday in a statement issued by Phrank Shaibu, Director of Strategic Communication of the ADC Presidential Campaign Council, Atiku faulted the frequency of executive loan requests transmitted to the federal legislature.
“Barely days after external borrowing proposal of $20.52 billion and €1.045 billion was presented to National Assembly, another request for $7.7 billion is now before Senate,” he said.
“Nigerians cannot be expected to treat relentless borrowing as routine paperwork. Every new foreign loan is bill Nigerians will eventually have to pay. This government cannot keep presenting borrowing as substitute for sound economic management while families and businesses carry cost of its failures,” Atiku said.
The presidential candidate raised concerns over the absence of detailed breakdowns in the executive communication, noting that citizens deserve full disclosure on public liabilities.
“Latest request raises urgent questions,” he said. “Which specific projects will receive money? How much will each project cost? What are repayment schedule, interest rate and other conditions? President’s own letter says final terms will depend on market conditions when borrowing is priced. Nigerians should not be asked to accept loan before they know what it will cost country.”
Atiku charged the upper legislative chamber to discharge its constitutional oversight duties with diligence rather than rubber-stamping executive borrowing plans.
“Senate must scrutinise proposal line by line,” he said. “It must demand full project list, clear funding allocations, proposed loan terms and credible repayment plan before considering approval. No government should receive blank cheque to contract foreign debt in name of budget implementation.”
“With President Tinubu’s tenure approaching its end, he must not bind Nigerians and future administrations to fresh debt without full disclosure and rigorous scrutiny,” Atiku said.
He further appealed to multilateral institutions and international creditors to halt extending credit facilities to the current administration until comprehensive transparency, sustainable repayment frameworks, and verifiable developmental outcomes from previous loans are demonstrated.
Atiku pointed out that despite the removal of the petrol subsidy, the Tinubu-led administration has accumulated public debt at an unprecedented pace, while triggering severe economic hardship across households and small businesses.
“It is also government with record infrastructure investment deficit in Nigeria,” he said. “So question is: what is Tinubu using his loans to finance specifically?”
“Nigerians are hungry and angry. Public infrastructure are limited; social welfare intervention is non-existent. Yet Nigeria is owing massively under Tinubu,” Atiku said.
Contrasting his policy direction with the incumbent administration’s fiscal model, the statement highlighted Atiku’s economic blueprint for stabilizing energy prices and easing living costs.
“But Atiku has different plan to make sure Nigeria does not continue in slide to poverty and debt,” the statement said. “Atiku’s plan is to return social welfare to Nigerian people through introduction of production-based subsidy on petroleum products.”
“Nigeria cannot borrow its way out of every budget shortfall. National Assembly must remember that it is accountable to Nigerians, not merely to executive. Before approving another trillion-naira burden, it must make government answer questions Nigerians are asking,” Atiku said.
- Media Report